DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because all numerical indicia in Fig.’s 5-7 are not readable. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Regarding Claim 1;
“the spraying orifice” is unclear; whereas the claim only previously asserts “an orifice for spraying”, and thus the office herein notes that an orifice alone does not provide sufficient structure to necessitate spraying. Further, “a section formed within one of the walls of the housing” is unclear; whereas the claim already asserts “at least one of walls of the housing”, and thus it cannot be readily ascertained if the same wall or a different wall is intended. Regarding Claims 5-6; “the recuperation cavity” is unclear; whereas base claims do not assert a recuperation cavity, and thus the term lacks antecedence. Note: allowable, as shown below assuming dependency on claim 3 which asserts a recuperation cavity. Regarding Claim 8; “each spraying orifice” is unclear; whereas the term does not properly refer back to the orifice asserted in claim 1. Regarding Claim 9; “A housing for an electrical and/or electronic element, comprising a device” is unclear; whereas the term(s) do not respectively refer back to the housing, the electronic element and the thermal regulation device already asserted in claim 1, and is not otherwise asserted as a second housing, a second electronic device and a second thermal regulation device—if so intended. It is further noted that “at least one” does not necessitate a plurality, and thus a broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) is i.e. one housing, one electronic component, as examined, and constitutes a fixed claim construction that will be subject to an election by original presentation if otherwise presented as i.e. a plurality. Regarding Claim 10; “a thermal regulation device…a dielectric fluid circulating in a dielectric fluid circuit” is unclear; whereas each term is already asserted in claim 1, and thus it cannot be readily ascertained if intended to refer back to the same features asserted in claim 1 or otherwise intended to denote additional features.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by (Campbell 2006/0250773).
Regarding Claim 1; Campbell discloses a thermal regulation device for at least one electronic component (as constituted by a cooling apparatus—as set forth by the abstract, wherein the cooling apparatus facilitates removal of heat from a heat generating electronic device), the thermal regulation device comprising: at least one housing, wherein the housing comprises a plurality of walls delimiting a receptacle, wherein the receptacle is designed to receive the electrical or electronic component (as set forth by para. 0042---whereas housing 870 includes walls constituted by 840, 845, 850, 880 and/or 825 and 830 sealed or brazed therewith and atleast in-part surrounding the electronic device-820 and disposed in a receptable space defined below 850 including a space portion interior 835 which occupies 820); and a dielectric fluid circuit which is configured to permit the circulation of a dielectric fluid (as set forth by para. 0043—whereas a dielectric fluid circuit is constituted by a coolant flowing via 842, 855, 860, 885, and/or 872--as depicted by Fig. 8, wherein para. 0027 further discloses a dielectric fluid), wherein at least one of the walls of the housing comprises at least one orifice for spraying of dielectric fluid in the receptacle, wherein the spraying orifice is fluidically connected to the dielectric fluid circuit, wherein the circuit comprises a section formed within one of the walls of the housing, wherein the section also contains a thermal element (as set forth by para. 0043-0044--whereas 850 constitutes an orifice plate comprising slots-855 in-part disposed in a section of the circuit defined interior to and between 840 and 835 for a jet impingement spray within the section in which a surface to be cooled at a heat sink structure-890 including fins-894 is located within the receptacle space-- as depicted by Fig. 8), and wherein the thermal element is configured to exchange heat with the dielectric fluid circulating in the dielectric fluid circuit (as depicted by Fig. 8--as further defined by the coolant washing over the surface to be cooled-890, and the fins 894 thereof as hot coolant then exits via 860, 885, and 872). NOTE: a dielectric fluid circuit does not explicitly assert any distinctive structure for fluid and thus is not explicitly separate, integral and/or defined by a combination of other claim structures. Further Note: “wall(s)” are not explicitly asserted so as to be limited to any particular location.
Regarding Claim 2; Campbell discloses the device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wall of the housing which accommodates the section of the dielectric fluid circuit comprises an inner envelope (as constituted by a space subset defined between 845 and outer two fins 894) and an outer envelope (as constituted by another space subset defined atleast in-part by 835), wherein the section is delimited by the inner and outer envelopes, wherein the thermal element is arranged at least partly between the inner envelope and the outer envelope (whereas 890 is atleast in-part disposed between the respective envelopes--as depicted by Fig. 8).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 8, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (Campbell 2006/0250773) in view of (Balachandar 20230010253).
Regarding Claim 8; Campbell discloses the device as claimed in claim 1, except explicitly wherein each spraying orifice comprises a nozzle for spraying of the dielectric fluid. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify each orifice of the orifice plate with a nozzle, as set forth by Balachandar at 32-Fig. 3 so to provide a spray or jet of the dielectric fluid since it was known in the art by Campbell-para. 0047 that different orifice dimensions and jet velocities are provided, and thus nozzles shall be employed to allow for spray to impinging on the thermal element at different angles to augment cooling performance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding Claim 3; Campbell discloses the device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the section of the dielectric fluid circuit comprises at least one distribution manifold formed in the wall and opening onto the spraying orifice, and/or wherein the section of the dielectric fluid circuit further comprises a recuperation cavity positioned in a base wall of the device, and designed to recuperate dielectric fluid which accumulates in this base.
Regarding Claim 7; the device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the section comprises a supply duct, formed between the inner envelope and the outer envelope, forming the fluidic connection between a dielectric fluid input mouth and the distribution manifold, and wherein the section also comprises a discharge duct forming the fluidic connection between the discharge cavity and an output mouth.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 5220804 A
Tilton; Donald E et al.
Fig. 6
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/COURTNEY L SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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